Originally Posted by CaliLivChick

Yes, lifestyle change has been the key for me too. I'm not calling this a diet, I'm calling it a lifestyle modification. I've been at this for 3.5 weeks, and am down 5 pounds. I weigh myself at the gym once a week, because we don't own a scale... I still feel scales are evil.

I am 5'8", will always have a bubble butt, am muscular, and started out at 223 lbs. Ugh. After the first week, I had lost 3 lbs. After the second week, I had gained 2 lbs. back. After the third week, I had lost 4 more lbs., for my total of 5 lbs.

Part of my modification is taking energy/metabolism enhancing pills, and no fast food. This is temporary, as I need the help to get the ball rolling. I spent the last six months of last year in the gym, but didn't see any results. However, I hadn't modified my eating, and was eating pizza about once a week.

I am not depriving myself (except for the fast food right now). If I crave something sweet, I have a LITTLE piece of sweet, whereas before, I would have as much sweet as was available. When I have my weight loss on a downhill slide, I will OCCASIONALLY have fast food.

What has also helped is the fact that for awhile, we couldn't afford fast food. We had to borrow money to make rent, so any extra spending was out of the question. We had to make do with the cheap stuff at the grocery store, which also happens to be the healthy stuff. We began eating healthy out of financial necessity, but are sticking with it out of physical necessity.

Aside from the weight loss, I feel better. I noticed after two weeks that when I walk to the gym, I'm not breathing nearly as hard as I used to, and my active pulse rate has gone down 10 BPM. It's also a great ego boost (and motivation) to get on the scale and have to bump the little slider down more than last time. When I gained those couple pounds back, it was motivation to kick my own butt, and not let that happen again. My jeans are more comfortable to wear. I can put my shoes on with my pants buttoned, and I can breathe while doing so.

My ultimate goal is to be about 145 lbs. That's where I was when I graduated high school. My interim goals for now are to get down to 200 lbs., fit into my smaller jeans, and feel better about smiling in pictures. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I can't afford plastic surgery. =)